The present invention refers to an injection device with a pin-shaped housing having a manually operated device for setting a dose.
Injection devices with a pin-shaped housing are known with which patients can inject insulin themselves, the injection dose being set by means of a manually operated dose setting device. Corresponding to the dose set, a preset amount of the contents of the syringe are expelled from from the syringe when an actuating button is operated. The dose setting device comprises a rotatable hand knob provided at the end of the pin-shaped housing. Further, the housing has a display indicating the dose set on a scale or a LCD.
There is a problem that people with impaired vision have great difficulty setting or controlling the dose. Thus, wrong dosing may occur.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an injection device with a pin-shaped housing (pen), which allows a dose set to be easily read also by people with impaired vision.
In the present injection device, the pin-shaped housing is coupled to an external display device that receives information on the respective dose set and displays the dose on a rather large display. Thus, the size of the display device is not limited to the narrow pen shape of the pin-shaped housing. On the other hand, the advantages of the pin-shaped housing, i.e. its being easy to take along and its simple handling, can be maintained. The pin-shaped housing is coupled with the display device only to set the dose.
Existing technology may be used for the display device. For insulin injecting diabetics, the display of an existing blood sugar measuring apparatus can be used to display the setting of a dose. It is further possible to connect economic one-way pens with a comfortable and large reusable display apparatus that can also be suited for storing data, among other features. Using the external display, one can do without batteries in a one-way pen. The display apparatus may comprise a language module for acoustically outputting the dose set. The dose set is stored together with the time, the date and the kind of medication (e.g. insulin preparation).
Each display apparatus may provide storage possibilities for several people. A person is identified by a defined feature. In the display apparatus, the individual pin-shaped housings (pens) are each associated with individual contents (insulin preparations). The display apparatus may contain further person-related data. For diabetics, one may input e.g. the bread units, the calculated insulin amount for covering one bread unit, individual therapeutic goals of blood sugar control, particularities of metabolism and profiles of action of the different insulin preparations, or these values may be received from a PC. Due to its storage capabilities, the external display can be used by a physician or medical personnel to yield exact information on the kind and time of an injection. From the data associated with a certain person, a proposed insulin dose may be calculated using a measured blood sugar rate. This dose is then set at the pen, using the same display apparatus.
It is the principle idea of the present invention to facilitate the setting of a dose in a pen by using a separate display. The data transfer between the pen and the display apparatus allows for other functions besides the optical indication of the dose setting, such as an acoustic indication of the dose setting, the storing of the injection amount with time and date, an illuminated display, the storing of the injected preparation and, overall, an automatic data management.
The data transfer from the pen to the display apparatus may be effected in different ways, such as electrically, optically or mechanically. Here, it is possible to connect the pen directly to the housing of the display apparatus or to provide the display apparatus with a plug connected with the pen. In each case, a fool-proof means should be provided that allows the pen and the display apparatus to be coupled only in the correct position (polarity).
It is also possible to provide the pen with a code to be recognized by the display apparatus so that the display apparatus will always know with which pen or pen type it cooperates.
It is possible to provide the display apparatus and/or the pen with a voltage supply, where the voltage supply of one device may also supply the other.
According to another aspect of the invention, the display apparatus sets a dose at the pen. This may be accomplished by providing the display apparatus with a force transmission device to which the pen is connected. If the display apparatus is a blood sugar measuring apparatus, for example, it can calculate the dose from the measured blood sugar rate and further stored parameters, and it can automatically take care that this dose is set at the pen. Thereafter, the pen is removed from the display apparatus.